PETALING JAYA: The federal territories ministry has been restructured and is now a department under the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD), says Chief Secretary Zuki Ali.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had not announced a federal territories minister when he unveiled his Cabinet on Dec 2.
The ministry was first established in 1978.
Zuki said federal territories department secretary-general Rosida Jaafar had briefed the prime minister on the department’s latest structure at Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) earlier today.
“We discussed vital issues and the implementation of development policies for the welfare of citizens, specifically those in the federal territories,” he said in a Facebook post.
The federal territories comprise Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
The new department will be spearheaded by Rosida, who was made secretary-general of the federal territories ministry in 2019.
Previously, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said the federal territories ministry was redundant as the roles of the minister and KL mayor overlapped.
M Ali, chairman of the Save Kuala Lumpur Coalition (SKL), agreed that the ministry had redundant functions and said it should be “put on hold” to save costs and avoid duplication of functions.
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